RobinThorn Thank You Requests!
by StormyWeatherBringsUsTogether
Summary: A collection of oneshots requested by my followers on Tumblr!
1. Powder Slopes

Chise's growing wanderlust had led them many places, but he never suspected that it would lead him to stand on these godforsaken sticks again.

His experience with skiing down powdery mountain slopes was expansive due to his time spent with his first teacher. Second only was his experience spent violently planted snout down in the snow. Lindel liked to attribute this failing to clumsiness. Elias could not have counted the times he had to bite his tongue on the retort that the skis were made for human feet, not paws.

"Are you ready?" Her gentle voice probed bringing him out of the frustration still harbored at the old coot.

She stood out against the white mountaintop hand extended to him encouragingly, a brushstroke of vivid color on a blank canvas. Rosy hues dusted Chise's nose and cheeks in the frigid air. Puffs of gentle steam vapored out of her pink lips that curved into that darling smile that made the winter gale feel as warm and cozy as their fireplace.

He looked down at his oxford clad human feet. How things had changed. Perhaps this would be different as well.

He nodded, causing her eyes to crinkle happily, catching the glittering snow as she gingerly pushed forward. He followed close behind. The familiar ache in his thighs burned as he held his center of gravity low to the ground. He had to admit, human feet did make this easier.

He lingered behind Chise, watching the rose pattern scarf Silky had prepared for their trip flap in wind behind her. Her melodious laughter rang out as her confidence grew, leading her to swish in and out of the trees. The mental image of her joyous face grew in his mind's eye. He longed to see it.

Crouching, he picked up speed. Trees and snow whipping in his peripheral until he caught up beside her. His breath caught in his chest.

Bubbly giggles spilled from her mouth lighting her face gold against the silvery snow. In her eyes grew their garden in a flourishing spring as they caught him beside her. Chise's fond smile for him was as bright as the sun and gentle as a dandelion seed.

The light extinguished as her eyes widened. "Elias look out!"

His head turned just in time to see the pine branch at his eye level.

Green needles whacked his face filling his nose as his arms flailed outward in graceless circles. His feet jumbled and he was vaguely aware of his skis catching each other before he collided to the ground. Tumbling and twisting wind and snow assaulted betwixt his robe and skin chilling him to the bone. He finally came to a stop on his back, horns buried in the snow and the world spinning around him. The cloudy sky and snowy ground where such similar shades of white and gray that he had trouble telling which was which.

Oddly, his orientation was corrected by the heavy thud against his side as Chise crashed into his ribs.

His hands steadied round her waist quick as a whip preventing her from diving headfirst into the snow, but stopping her momentum enough to topple her across his chest. Dizzy or not, he would not let her fall. She muttered a surprised "Oof!" as she braced her hands against her shoulders. Her shocked face blinked before remembering what had happened, "Elias are you ok?"

He chuckled, "Yes, though I suppose that Lindel may have unfortunately been correct about my skiing ability after all."

She giggled before her eyes followed her hands, realizing how she had landed. The blush in her cheeks flared alongside the wind burn as she quickly retreated to sit upright. Elias followed suit, shaking snow off his horns. A shiver wracked Chise as a clump of the snow they had disrupted found its way between her neck and scarf. Elias drew her into his lap without even thinking.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

She sighed as he tucked his robe around her. "Nope. You?"

It was his eyes that crinkled this time, "Not a bit."


	2. Pleasantly Confused

Although a house steeped in magic could never truly be empty, when she was gone it might as well be.

Elias slipped his nightshirt on with a resigned sigh. He was begrudgingly learning to share Chise with the rest of the world, with friends or school trips or visiting Angie's family in Scotland like tonight, but he always dreaded the cold nights where she was gone. When the empty expanse of their bed was impossible to ignore.

He shook his head defiantly. It wouldn't do to sulk like this, it would only serve to make the night longer. Better to succumb to sleep and let the time pass quickly. With that thought, he flopped onto his pillow and gripped from underneath. He had trouble making the quilt cover his whole body, something he had never noticed until Chise had brought it gently to his shoulders, but since the night was warm he elected to ignore it. His eyes went dark in his approximation of closing them and slowly fell into a fitful doze.

Soft tapping sounded through the bedroom. Elias would have likely never noticed this, even in his lighter state of sleep, were it not for the sensation of weight settled next to him that roused him from his slumber. And the sensation of weight on his...rear?

He groggily turned his head and was very surprised to see Ruth perched and snoring along his rump. He didn't particularly mind, but he did wonder if he had mistaken him for Chise in whatever exhausted state had returned him home.

A light touch just below his jawline prompted him to tilt his head further. He was elated.

"Ruth was so tired he plopped on the first thing he found," Chise explained with a chuckle. "Sorry we woke you"

His eyes dipped in his signature smile. "No need to apologize, I'm glad I get to see you sooner than I expected." Chise smiled in return, lowering against Elias while tucking an arm around his back. Elias gingerly tried to stretch out, jostling Ruth lightly in the process who only snuffled sleepily in response.

"So," He said wrapping his arm round Chise in turn, "What brings you back to England so soon?"

A goofy, if somewhat exasperated smile spread across Chise's face. "Althea got overzealous in her magic training and accidentally caused Hugo to flood the room we would have stayed in...And the entire second floor."

Elias would have to discreetly thank the vodyanoi next time he visited Angie. But for now, he nuzzled Chise's temple, once again vaguely aware of Ruth's odd choice of bed as he sunk back into his pillow. "An unfortunate accident to be sure, but I can't say I wish it had not happened."

Chise thumped his shoulder with an indulgent laugh. "If Angie heard that she'd tan your hide."

Elias chuckled in turn before his jaw stretched in a yawn that Chise echoed. "I can send a few hearth salamanders their way but for now let's rest."

Chise's eyes were already closed when she answered in a sleepy smile, "Lets indeed."


	3. Threads

Sundays were nice.

No customers, no orders and only a few chores. Nothing could be said if the manor was leisurely to rise in their duties. Chise had felt this as she slowly arose from the bed late that morning. Although Elias clearly felt the calm even more strongly while he dozed, unaffected by the movements of his bedmate. Even after she had changed to day clothes in her own room, Elias was yet to emerge from the master bedroom.

"Elias? Are you almost ready? Silver says breakfast is soon." Chise rapped the door lightly with her knuckles cause it to creak open just a crack. She hadn't realized it was ajar. She stepped inside to where Elias was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed save for his waistcoat and veil.

He buttoned his left shirt cuff gingerly before turning to his apprentice. "Just a moment. I'll be ready shortly." That's right. He could take his time with his clothes today, instead of letting magic cut corners when a customer arrived too early.

As he slipped his waistcoat on, Chise noticed his veil hanging where he often left it on the wardrobe. Without thinking, Chise crossed the room and took the veil in hand. She had thought to hand it to him but saw he was still preoccupied with the buttons of his waistcoat. She was so light compared to him that the bed made no divot as she crawled next to him and perched on her knees behind him.

Chise fidgeted with the ties, her forehead drawing lines as she mentally worked through the paths they would need to take to look as they did every day. Elias jumped slightly when the gold loops unexpectedly flopped across his nose. "Ah! Sorry!" She chirped before fishing them back to her hands.

This might be harder then she thought. The ties looped twice around his horns and three times around his neck before tying back at the base of his skull. But where did they start then? Chise huffed at the strings in her hands again.

Elias chuckled slightly as he reached back to grasp her hands. "Here." He guided her hands through a looping path around the long stretch of his face. His hands fell away after the first path when he felt Chise's fingers grow confident. He secretly relished in the gentle grazes of her fingers as she finished her task. They were not infrequent these days, but like the first time she had caressed him in Ulthar, the ease at which she casually touched his inhuman features never failed to amaze him.

Finally, she pulled the bow taunt at the base of the skull. The red silk fell into place, swishing lightly. Smiling proudly at her work, Chise dropped her head to meet Elias' eye, "How's that?"

"Perfect." He smiled in turn. "Most of the time I just let magic do the work for me. It is faster."

Chise slid from her spot behind him to sit alongside him. "I figured, but since we have the time right now, I wanted to figure it out."

Elias' face made the closest approximation to blinking a bone and light skull could muster. "You do that often. For me." His hand closed over Chise's, grasping it slightly. "Thank you."

Chise's eyes fluttered in confusion. Something more lay in his words just then. Before she could question it Elias released her hand and rose. "I suppose we shouldn't keep Silver waiting then." He offered his hand to her. Ever the gentleman.

She smiled and accepted. She could have risen on her own, but the effort was nice just the same. "Sounds good." The day had only just begun, they could take their time as they pleased.


	4. Battle Wounds

Despite what Renfred so often liked to accuse, Elias was not a violent person by choice. There were, of course, situations that forced his hand. Much like the one he found himself in now. He was unsure if there was ever a peaceful solution to be had when crossing paths with a territorial manticore, but he knew there was no chance he would find one today.

It had been pure bad luck that Elias had stumbled across the mismatched creature trouncing around the outskirts of the forest while he had been gathering components. He suspected it had somehow become misplaced from its Arabic homeland, perhaps in an even shadier than average auction transition. The church would have had him become involved sooner than later and he definitely did not want the man-eating beast lurking within a hundred miles of Chise.

But still, something of this nature is much easier to deal with when one is prepared, Elias thought as the beast's swollen red stinger zoomed just past his shoulder.

The beast retracted its scorpion tail and reared back on its thick lion legs before landing down releasing a ghastly howl. Its face was human-like, as is someone had sawed off the face of an emaciated young man and sewn it to the neck of the lion body. Green strings of saliva hung from is cracked lips as it panted bodily.

Elias sidestepped around the creature's defensive position, slowly drawing his wand. No neighbors would come to his aid at this moment, he would have to draw on his power alone. The beast's gold eyes, much too large for his human face, followed his every movement. Now or never.

He thrust his wand forward. _"Nettle in the shadow. False hol-Ah!"_

Heavy paws and claws crashed into his shoulders knocking aside his wand as he fell downward. Some instinctual fraction of good sense reminded him to raise his head slightly to prevent his horns from jamming and possibly cracking, into the soil. As luck would have it, that sense also moved his head in time to miss the stinger as it bolted forward and became deeply embedded into the earth.

Drops of stringy saliva brought the mage's attention back to the beast hanging over him. Just in time to see its lips crack open across its face as it unhooked its jaw. Ah, so that was how this creature managed to swallow humans whole. Elias would just have to be bigger than a human then.

In an instant the liquid shadows that made up Elias' body expanded, sprawling outward in jagged thorns and spikes. This didn't stop the creature's trajectory resulting in its humanoid teeth clamping against the plumage and neck where Elias' skull had been a second earlier. The teeth were blunt but the force behind them still threatened to knock the wind out Elias. He ignored the pain focusing on his thorns as they wound and spun around the beast prying its body of by an inch. Exactly enough for Elias to free his arms.

His right hand plunged into the beast's side like a harpoon. Distantly, he noted the jaws of the creature unclamping from his shoulder while a sharper pain set in his external ribs. He ignored it, gripping his jaws around its neck and surging his hand into the beast's hide deeper and deeper as it screeched and howled. Finally, his claws grasped the throbbing mass they had searched for and tugged. It fought furiously to free itself but the grip of Pilum Muralis was vice even against thick ropes of tendon and muscle.

Elias could feel muscles against his hand and tongue go limp as he ripped the beast's heart free of its chest. A final hiss like a deflated balloon choked out of its mouth. With a definitive yank, Elias broke the organ free of the vessels connecting it. He was unlearned if the beast expressed healing capabilities but he did not wish to leave anything to chance.

Only after the heart ceased its residual beating did Elias finally release his grip, both on the creatures neck and disembodied organ. He made to sit on his haunches to inspect the damage...well damn. This could pose a problem.

The gathering basket fell to her feet in a clatter of herbs and vegetables. Her hands clasped over her mouth as Chise inspected the scene before her in horror. Her ring had alerted her the instant Elias had been injured and she had rushed to find him. She couldn't have possibly imagined this.

Elias lay on his side, his body taking the huge form she had not seen since their first encounter with Cartaphilus. Blood seeped from his shoulder and coated his hand. Not an arm's length away laid the slain manticore, it's open throat and chest already being scoured by mushroom-like fae. All of this was awful. But not quite as awful as the sight of the beasts stinger embedded in Elias' external ribs.

She fell upon him in a flush, cupping her hands against the corners of his jaw. To her great relief, his eyes flickered at the contact opening up to meet her. "...Chise..?"

Chise felt a mountain lift from her shoulders. "Elias, thank god you're alive." She leaned her forehead against his own, grateful beyond words to feel his rumbling breath tickle her belly. She finally pulled away, still cupping his jaw, to look him in the eyes. "What happened here?"

"Lots of things," he answered as he slowly propped his long arms to sit upright, "but mostly I was very unlucky today." Chise was not pleased with the answer but her attention was quickly drawn to the heavy thud of Elias' body collapsing back to the ground. A pained hiss slipped between his grinding teeth.

She shuffled to where the stinger, still attached to the beast's tail was lodged into the lowest and smallest of Elias' external ribs. An inch lower and it would have sunken into his belly, she thought with a shiver. She didn't know how potent the venom of a manticore was but bone should, in theory, spread it slower than blood. She hoped.

With steely resolve, she looked back to his eyes. "What do I need to do?"

"You'll need to remove it without touching the venom." He rumbled in answer. "Try not to let it break off if you can."

She fished her gardening gloves from her apron pockets and hurriedly put them on. Placing her right hand against his stomach for purchase, she felt him tense as she cautiously closed her dragon cursed hand round the bit of stinger closest to the embedment. Using the ancient strength of dragons made her nervous. One slip of concentration would render the stinger to keratinous shards.

She took a deep breath and slowly pulled. Inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter the stinger was removed from the bone. With a jerk, it unhooked from the bone leaving a dent filled with a shallow pocket of a troubling thin yellow liquid. But thankfully no blood.

Elias rose to look at her work and made to give her the next instructions. To his surprise, Chise was already at work pulling basil leaves from her bag of holding in one hand and her wand in the other. She peered around the treetops til stopping at one. "Will you help me?" She called offering up her palm. A gentle tinkling sounded as a Hawthorn spirit landed in her palm. Its eyes crinkled in a smile. They were often pleased to help their dear sleigh beggy.

Chise crushed the basil between her fingers and sprinkled it in the dent of bone. A spicy herbal scent filled the air as the powdered leaves fizzled in contact with the pooled venom. Holding her wand and the fae aloft she began to chant.

_Seep and burn herbs of the earth._

_Run deep and work the bezoar's deed._

The magic of the queen bee sparkled and fizzed through the air landing on the specks of basil leaves. The herbal smell grew stronger as the fizzling leaves burned in bright yellow streaks. The light spread along the bone in spiderweb patterns followed by smoke like an incense burner. In a few minutes, the last of the smoke dissipated out of the bone leaving not a trace of venom.

The crease between Chise's forehead smoothed as she sighed. "Thank you, friend." The hawthorn squeaked happily and disappeared is a flash of sparkles.

Elias rose again in a smooth unhurried motion. "Well done Chise, I am very impressed at your progress." He looked her over with a proud glimmer in his eyes. "And your ingenuity."

Chise blushed, tucking a wild tuff of her bangs behind her ear. "I had made something similar for mother up the hill whose son was stung by a scorpion. I was worried it wouldn't work without the rest of the catalysts or it just wouldn't be strong enough for monster poison."

Elias tilted his head, pondering. "If a normal mage would have attempted it, it may have not worked. Also calling on a forest fae was a smart decision."

Chise would have basked in the praise a moment longer were it not for the spots of blood dripping from Elias' neck. She reached into her bag once more and secured the gauze and cleaning agent she kept on her desk drawer. She walked to where he had lain his head earlier. "Can you lie back down on your stomach so I can patch up your neck?" He complied as Chise set to work on her knees.

Despite the second set of horns making the maneuvering somewhat awkward, Chise made quick work of the wounds. Once finished she removed her gloves and stuffed them in the apron pocket. She would have to remember to wash the whole kit later. "How does that feel?"

Elias experimentally twisted his neck here and there. "Much better. Thank you Chise."

She smiled again as she sat criss-cross. "I don't suppose you can change back yet?"

He haunched somewhat sheepishly. "Not yet, I don't think."

Chise held her hands out urging. He accepted the invitation without hesitation, settling his chin in her lap. "That's fine. I'll stay here till you can." His eyes muted pleasantly as she began stroking the top of his skull.

"Thank you Chise." He said as his clean hand wrapped around her.

"And you can explain why you didn't call me when you saw the manticore." She teased.

"Urk!...Alright."


	5. Modern Magic

"And each time you follow the prompts this message appears?" Elias said patiently looking over the bright blue message against the illuminated screen.

Chise grumbled, "Yeah, I don't understand it was working fine yesterday." In defiance, she pointedly attacked the keys once again.

The college had deemed it necessary for Chise to acquire a personal computer to aid in her note-taking. They had generously provided a new laptop complete with the college's state of the art magical hard drive. She had accepted with a bright red face stammering in embarrassed gratitude. Lucy oversaw the exchange and rolled her eyes to so hard Chise feared they may become lodged into the back of her skull.

The concepts of magic had often been compared to the concepts of computer programming in Chise's early training. In the same way that a key and password was could circumvent complicated programming and rules make particular results occur, choosing the right words or helper would aid in creating the desired outcome.

Who would've thought the comparison would be easier for magic than for the normal world thing, she thought with a grimace as the fifth error message that hour appeared on the tiny screen. Letting out a defeated groan Chise flopped back onto her bed, feeling and acting much like a deflated balloon.

Elias snorted, he hadn't seen her this dejected since her coughing elixirs kept growing legs and running off her work bench. He sat next to her, careful not to jostle the thin laptop still balanced on her legs. Reading the screen once again provided him little insight. He had heard tell of intangible fae scouring through the internet like true spiders in a web, but even then they would need to connect to the internet to contact electric loa for aid.

"You are certain it was working properly at the college yesterday?" He asked already knowing the answer.

"Yeah...I don't get the point of it being so small if I can't use it at home." She clicked her teeth in frustration. "I could have just used the library computers like I did in Japan." She grumbled.

"Perhaps then it is time to request help from the college."

She looked at him mortified. "But Lucy will-"

"I never said Lucy, just ask Alice."

She blanched, "Oh, well now I feel silly." She sat up like a shot, grabbing her phone in a flurry of text to explain her predicament.

After a few blips from her phone Chise's face turned from hopeful to dejected and landed on embarrassed before she landed back on the bed once again.

"What's wrong?" Elias asked.

Chise hid her face behind her palm and lifted the phone for Elias to see. The phone was very small in his hands requiring him to hold it close to his nose to read.

Chise... it's not connected to wifi...lets get you a router tomorrow :p

Elias huffed a small laugh. In hindsight, this was rather obvious.

Chise sighed, "I'm an idiot."

Elias placed the phone on her belly before petting it fondly. "Not an idiot just a mage."


	6. Night Terror

Chise was falling. Her body plummeted, completely at the mercy of the wind as she battered around in the air. She fought desperately to right herself, looking anywhere to grab a hold. But there was nothing in the gaping chasm she fell closer to. She looked upward once again, finding a mass of blackness snaking along the chasm walls in furious desperation toward her. The child of thorns' hand emerged from the blackness as the mage took form and lept off the walls. Hands and thorny vines reached toward her to pluck her from the air. She reached for him, her fingertips only just coming-

A sickening crack echoed as her tiny body slammed into the rock bed.

Ringing silence filled the air. Blood pooled into the ground creating a puddle of ruddy dark mud against his feet, splashing dully as his knees gave out their strength. His hand slowly hovered over her arms, bent at staggering angles where bones could be seen splintering out of skin and clothes alike. His fingers clawed into the ground in futile vengeance.

He could hear nothing, yet he knew that the cursed sorcerer was approaching.

"Oh boo. You're going to have trouble finding another sleigh beggy to observe." The child who wasn't a child grinned, "You really should have taken better care of this one." He shrugged, "Ah well, you don't mind if I use what's left, do you? I've never gotten the chance to work with the materials of a genuine sleigh beggy. I'll bet there's still magic residing in the remains."

Whether or not the mage heard him was unclear as he showed no reaction to any of the sorcerer's words.

"You know I would have thought you'd be at least a little happy." He flipped his silvery locks behind his ear and scoffed pointedly. "I mean sure, she's dead, but you didn't kill her, at least, not directly. I thought you would have lost control and eaten her long before now!"

Pilum Muralis lunged its inky black body into the immortal sorcerer pinning him to the ground in an instant. It rose over the minuscule sorcerer before driving its head into his neck. Teeth like knives snapped down through muscle and bone, crushing any breath that lingered. With its jaw still locked onto the tiny human's neck, Thorn glanced at the recipient of its wrath.

Green eyes glanced back.  
-

Elias bolted upward and found his hand clenching his chest furiously. His breath came in sharp gasps causing pain instead of relief. He looked in every direction of the darkness of his room like an injured animal. His eyes froze on the mass of bright red splayed atop the pillow next to him.

A sleepy groan mumbled as Chise stirred and rose slowly. Elias felt his sense return to him registering the red mass as hair and not…

"Elias?" Chise rose to one arm, taking in his sudden awakening with half asleep eyes. "Is something wrong?"

He swallowed harshly in an attempt to control his breathing. "I...had a nightmare, I'm sorry I woke you."

"It's ok," she soothed offering her hand which he gratefully took. He met her halfway as she leaned forward, pressing their faces together in a tender nuzzle. After a moment of comforting silence, Chise peaked through half-lidded eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" He flinched.

The phosphorus embers in his sockets flitted downward in misplaced guilt, unable to meet her green eyes. "I don't think I can." he conceded dejectedly. His free hand cautiously cupped her cheek before sliding to her shoulder, consciously avoiding her neck in baseless fear.

Chise sighed knowingly and gently tugged her husband back onto the bed. She brought the comforter over his back before settling into the crook of his arm. Mirroring his posture, her hand came to his back tracing idle patterns. Once his breathing calmed completely, she whispered, "Don't worry I'm here."

"And for that I am grateful." His arm enveloped her firmly, taking comfort in her steady breath and pulse. Once her eyes had sealed and her snoring resumed Elias whispered, "...more than you know."


End file.
